California trip including beach town stay
 

In June/July 2016 I have a trip planned to N America and the bulk of the trip will be spent in California, flights booked into Vancouver BC at the end June and out of San Francisco in mid July.

The initial idea is to spend 3 days in Vancouver (been a few times before so will be a whistle stop thing to catch our favourite things). At the end we plan a return visit to Sonoma for a couple of nights before the return home from SFO.

We have 11 nights available to travel the PCH and on to Sonoma, with at least 5 of those days relaxing by a beach or pool near LA or San Diego or somewhere in between. The high priority requirements for this part are good weather and mix of restaurants/bars nightlife (not clubs).

I've followed the recent post on the PCH which is very informative but I'm really stumped with the beach/pool thing.

Any suggestions to which area would be good, LA or San Diego?

Thanks

Carlsbad is a pretty cool little beach town a little north of San Diego.

Cool is good, is this a compact place, would prefer not to have a car until the PCH section if possible.

Manhattan Beach is a short taxi (or hopefully Uber/Lyft by the time of your visit) ride from LAX.

How are you traveling from Vancouver to LA/San Diego to San Francisco? If you're driving, you're visiting the cities in the wrong order geographically and thus committing yourself to an enormous amount of time spent at the wheel of a car.

No, flying.

<redacted by moderator>

Thanks for the bump

Here in the UK the BBC has a 3 hr live special on the fabulous Monterey Bay and the sea life in the area.

It was a joy to watch, called Big Blue Live.

Fantastic.

I'm a San Diego native, so have a preference for that city, but if I were you, I'd chose a beach in the LA area; less driving. We just got back from a week long stay at a beach house in San Clemente, which has great beaches. However, there are many excellent choices in that area. You might want to go to tripadvisor and compare the different beach areas you are considering. A car will be a must.

Thanks I'll see if I can find some info on the different area's.

Good to know about a car.

Santa Barbara or Pismo Beach.

Another area with nice beaches and plenty of white sand is Oxnard, which is located between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. It's also the gateway to Channel Islands National Park and Channel Island National Marine Sanctuary.

On a trip to Ca a few years ago we enjoyed our stays in Carmel and Sonoma, which is a starting point for comparison. Weve also enjoyed trips to Miami and Naples in Fl.

Im hoping to catch an event, music or cultural, during the trip in July.

Thanks for the suggestions so far.

One of the more unique festivals is the Pageant of the Masters which is held in Laguna Beach each summer. It features tableaux vivants (living pictures) in which famous works of art are posed by real people who are made to look virtually identical to the originals.

SeeCalifornia has a comprehensive directory of events and festivals listed by type or month, or alphabetically.

Thanks for the links, great info just what we're looking for.

Man Beach or Hermosa Beach. Both compact. You can probably rent bikes and go from one to the other (and to Redondo) (Or Venice if you are up for a longer bike ride) along the boardwalk. Very pleasant and flat ride.

Laguna Beach is another option. Walking friendly. I think they have a shuttle too. Great restaurants and bars. And the location for Pageant of the Masters, which is very cool event, but get tickets early!